Partnerships at a Distance: Redesigning a Teacher Education Program to Prepare Educators for Diverse, High-Need Classrooms

Abstract

This case study describes a college of education's attempt to move beyond its traditional programs to respond to the changing contexts of education. As a large, land-grant institution located in a small, rural community, this teacher education program faced numerous obstacles in preparing its graduates for the challenges of today's classrooms. The disjuncture between the realities of the university setting and those of urban classrooms serving diverse, high-need student populations served as the impetus for a program restructuring based, in part, on partnerships with school districts as many as 400 miles away. With support from a $9.67 million, five-year Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, partnerships with more than 30 schools have been developed over the past four years. These partnerships have been developed and sustained through both face-to-face and virtual interactions.